Abstract
Onion is an important vegetable crop, which has produced worldwide including of Ethiopia for its daily uses and economic benefits. The beginning of its production was traced back to the introduction of planting material from Sudanese and recently it has produced intensively and by now smallholder farmers in most parts of the country produces the crop. Despite to its lower productivity, which brings below the world average, onion is becoming as the sources of livelihood for many peoples who have engaged in the production and trading. The main reason for this lower productivity of the crop is most probably due to lack of improved onion cultivars, inappropriate agronomic practices and a little-given attention to the crop production. Hence, most of the grower uses the planting material that has obtained from their local markets, from semi-formal seed producers and from imported seeds (not tested for its quality) which are inferior in yield, easily susceptible to diseases and insect pests and none adapted to wider agro-ecologies. Currently, therefore, the absence of an authorized body that produces and distributes the improved onion seed materials at the country level is the main challenges of the sector. However, the area under cultivation is increasing from time to time both under rain feed and irrigation conditions due to its economic profitability. Also, an inevitable yield and yield component improvement activities including of plant nutrient management, crop water requirements and scheduling programs, plant population densities, and disease and insect pest control systems were identified. Therefore, this paper mainly to review on the major onion production challenges in the country. Keywords: Allium cepa L., Challenges, Ethiopia, Onion, Production DOI : 10.7176/FSQM/86-01 Publication date : April 30 th 2019
Highlights
Onion (Allium cepa L.) belongs to the genus Allium of the family Alliaceae which was believed to be originated in southwestern Asia, being the centre of domestication and variability, from where it was spread first across the world and has been cultivated for over 4700 years as annuals for bulb production purposes (Brewster, 2008)
Due to this considerable benefits, the onion production is become increasing in different agro-ecologies of the country in small-scale production systems being as one component of commercialization for rural and urban peoples as sources of daily income
Its production status is not well-developed and organized despite to all the available opportunities. This might be due to the lack of improved cultivars that are well adapted to different agro-ecologies and infestation of diseases and insect pests that take the lion share of low productivity
Summary
Onion (Allium cepa L.) belongs to the genus Allium of the family Alliaceae which was believed to be originated in southwestern Asia, being the centre of domestication and variability, from where it was spread first across the world and has been cultivated for over 4700 years as annuals for bulb production purposes (Brewster, 2008). The onion is recognized as one of the most important vegetable crops that cultivated throughout the world since its introduction to the worlds It has grown mainly as a food source and used as cousins and value addition for different dishes. The chemical flavonoids, anthocyanins, fructo-oligosaccharides and organo-sulphur compounds found in the onion is considered as medicinal and health benefits to fight different diseases including cancer, heart and diabetic diseases (Goldman, 2011). Due to this considerable benefits, the onion production is become increasing in different agro-ecologies of the country in small-scale production systems being as one component of commercialization for rural and urban peoples as sources of daily income. This paper is aimed to review on the major challenges of onion production in Ethiopia
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